Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The UN refugee agency and the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have enhanced school enrolment ratio in the province by creating space for additional 5,000 children and improving learning conditions for over 10,000 children already attending schools through the United Nations Refugee Affected and Hosting Area (RAHA) initiative.

According to a press release issued here on Monday, the UNHCR together with Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Secretary Shehzad Arbab, Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees, Provincial Education Minister Atif Khan and German Ambassador to Pakistan Ina Lepel inaugurated a newly-constructed government primary school (GPS.3) in Hayatabad. The German government funded the project through the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Development Bank (KfW).

The GPS.3 School is one of the 31 primary public schools, which the UNHCR has rehabilitated through partner agencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province under the RAHA education interventions.

In the education sector alone, through RAHA, a total of 12 projects worth Rs 277 million funded by the Federal Republic of Germany (through KfW) and the Government of United States, have so far been implemented and handed over to the provincial education department.

All the schools that have been renovated and upgraded are located in deprived areas where Afghan refugees live side by side the local population.

Speaking on the occasion, provincial education minister Atif Khan said the provincial government had been focusing on education and health sectors from the beginning. The minister added, “The education sector has been completely revamped through significant budget allocation and we are getting closer to achieving our goal of improving literacy rates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that we are extremely grateful to the international community for supporting this important cause and fully acknowledge the fact that education is the right of every child regardless of their race, religion or nationality, whether Afghan or Pakistani.”

In her address, Ina Lepel appreciated the efforts made by the UNHCR and the government counterparts to realise this important project. She underlined the need to support the communities, which have been hosting Afghan refugees for so many years now. The improvement in living conditions, education, health and community infrastructure was a key concern of the German development cooperation.

Addressing the audience, UNHCR representative in Pakistan Indrika Ratwatte reaffirmed UNHCR’s commitment to enhance capacity of the provincial government in education sector.

He appreciated the provincial government for allowing Afghan refugee children access to government (public) schools alongside Pakistani children. He stressed that such an initiative was in line with the government’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4), which warrant inclusive and equitable education for all.

He added that “investment in Pakistani and Afghan youth equals to investment in resilience, empowerment, stability and future of both countries, and is as such a strategic priority of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) and the RAHA initiative, spearheaded by the government of Pakistan.”

The headmaster of school, Mubarak Hussain, said, “There is no other school in this area so with the construction of this school, working class families now have a proper facility where their children can receive free education.”

The project worth Rs 14 million was implemented by the UNHCR partner Holistic Understanding for Justified Research and Action (HUJRA).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan, Planning and Development Additional Chief Secretary Azam Khan, Peshawar Commissioner Dr Fakhr-e-Alam, P&D Secretary Zafar Ali Shah and UNHCR Sub-Office Peshawar head Oscar Mundia were present on this occasion.